Monday, July 26, 2010

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #5!

It's time for Challenge #5 here at the ol' Arcana. Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?

Here ya' go -- good luck!

UPDATE:

Congrats go out to "delicreep" for correctly identifying this week's photo as Stephen Traxler's Slithis (1978), a fun, radioactive mud-monster romp where the titular creature stalks the denizens of Venice, CA. It's the kind of movie that opens with an extended slow-motion frisbee sequence, and takes time out from its plot to showcase a local bar's turtle race. I'm not kidding. And yes, I think it's awesome.

Theatrically, Slithis had an oddball distribution history. After none of the majors wanted to pick it up, executive producer Dick Davis farmed it around to regional sub-distributors. Director Traxler then adopted a grassroots advertising approach, traveling from town to town with costume in tow, making public appearances and even creating a Slithis Survival Kit and Fan Club! The effort paid off; the film turned a nice profit and a fair amount of press, not that Traxler really benefitted... (For more information, check out the Slithis chapter in Stephen Thrower's essential Nightmare USA.)

Seeing a VHS release in 1981 from Media Home Entertainment, Slithis was out of print for almost 30 years until Code Red finally rescued it for their recent DVD, featuring a new anamorphic transfer and a handful of trailers.

For a look at last week's entry, click here. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!